- IMF: US, Japan, PIGS must make difficult budget decisions
- US GDP seen at 2.5% this year from 2.8% April forecast; EZ 2.0% from 1.6%
- University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey 71.8 from 74.3
- US leading indicators rise 0.8% in May from -.03 in April
- New Greek FinMin: Plan must be approved before IMF cash paid; plan fulfills target but details to be worked out later
- Portugal appoints Vitor Gaspar as Finance minister
- Moody’s puts Italy on review for downgrade from Aa2
- Dollar shorts reach 5 month highs on IMM
- oil falls $2 to $ 92.95; gold rises $9 to $1539
German has dropped its challenge to the ECB and will accept purely voluntary rollovers of Greek debt. That should clear the way for a deal to get Greece over the next funding hump in early July but does not come close to solving the structural issues which remain daunting.
Short-covering was the order of the day, pushing EUR/USD to retrace 61.8% of its slide from 1.45 before stalling.
Solid buying on dips to 1.4275/80 in the afternoon limited dips. A huge intraday slide in oil (below $92 at on point) helped weigh on EUR/USD as didp the Italian ratings warning but solid bids (China) cushioned any blow. We end at 1.4300 with the market awaiting a Greek confidence vote and a Eurogroup meeting on Sunday.
Should be a fun opening for Sean!
Have a great weekend, one and all.
